Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, June 5, 2026, reserved ruling until June 9, 2026, on the bail application filed by social media influencer, Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, (a.k.a Blessing CEO) who is standing trial over an alleged N36 million fraud.
The defendant is facing a two-count charge filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and stealing to the tune of N36 million.
During the hearing of the bail application, counsel to the defendant, P.I. Nwafuru, urged the court to grant his client bail on the most liberal terms.
Opposing the application, prosecution counsel, S.I. Suleiman, informed the court that the EFCC had filed a 28-paragraph counter-affidavit deposed to by the investigating officer, Bufa Regina Okangbe, on May 29, 2026.
“We rely on all the depositions contained therein and the exhibits attached. At some point during the course of the investigation, the defendant stopped honouring invitations extended to her by the Commission.
We urge Your Lordship not to accede to the request of the defence and instead order an accelerated hearing of the matter,” Suleiman submitted.
After listening to arguments from both parties, Justice Dipeolu reserved ruling on the bail application until June 9, 2026.
Earlier in the proceedings, the prosecution presented its first witness, Bufa Regina Okangbe, an investigator with the EFCC. She narrated a trail of bank transactions, property records, and witness statements that allegedly revealed how the defendant received N36 million from the petitioner for a property she did not own.
According to Okangbe, the Commission received a petition which was assigned to her team for investigation. She stated that a Bank Verification Number (BVN) search conducted on the defendant revealed several bank accounts linked to her.
“Following this, letters of investigation were sent to the banks, while another letter was forwarded to the Lagos State Land Bureau to determine whether the property belonged to the defendant.
“The Commission also wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) regarding the defendant’s company, Break or Makeup Limited.
“After analysing the defendant’s statements of account, she was invited to the Commission’s office and confronted with transactions traced to her and the petitioner.”
The witness further testified that the defendant made statements under caution in the presence of her lawyer and husband, admitting that the petitioner paid her the sum of N30 million.
Okangbe told the court that the response from the Lagos State Land Bureau revealed that the property in question did not belong to the defendant but to one Mr. Tunbosun Osobu.
“The Commission invited Mr. Osobu, who appeared with his lawyer and son. He confirmed that he had leased the property to the defendant for three years and that the lease expired in 2023 before it was renewed in 2025,” she stated.
The witness also informed the court that the petitioner submitted the lease agreement executed between the petitioner and the defendant, along with a tenancy acquisition form.
During the proceedings, prosecution counsel Suleiman sought to tender several documents through the witness, including the petition dated February 18, 2025; statements made by the defendant on December 10, 11, 12, and 16, 2025; the tenancy acquisition form submitted by the petitioner’s lawyer; the petitioner’s Zenith Bank statement of account in the name of Pipes and Barrel Limited; and the defendant’s GTBank and Access Bank statements.
